I do agree Tax payer, and there are Insurance companies good and bad. The initial problem Trudy101 has is not her insurance company, but a motorist (plus husband) who are dishonest, stupid with no form of decency, and unless they are really beyond help, I would have thought the additional stigma and monetary ramifications when involving the police, then being convicted by the courts, would be enough to resolve this issue.

I have found one of the worst Insurance companies to be Admiral, as I have only ever been involved in three non fault incidents in 41 years of driving, the first was covered by them, and they increased my premium at the end of the year with the logic "we realise the fault was not yours and all costs were recovered, but since you were involved in an accident, we feel you are more likely to be involved in another", whereas the opposite is true, because I have learned from someone else's mistake, and allow, where possible, for it not to happen again.

The second incident I dealt with personally through the small claims court, and found in my case, the experience was very time consuming and could incur a considerable cost, depending on witnesses, distance to court venues, time of work...., but on a positive note, my case was resolved just before my fourth venue in court.

The third incident involved only my vehicle hitting a pothole (more of a cave), causing almost £3K of damage, but I had two independant eye witnesses, one of whom vouched for how long the road had been in this state, and after collecting a lot of extremely relevant information, both myself and my Insurance company Aviva, felt there was a very strong case to put to our legal team HBJ Claims Solutions. After months of conflicting correspondence regarding litigation, they dropped the case, and I personally, have never even considered legal protection since. Aviva felt so strongly about my case ( I saw the emails directed at our legal team from Aviva, not a matter of being told what I wanted to hear), they reinstated my full no claim status and refunded my £650 excess, Insurance service does not come any better. This incident is still being treated by one of Admiral's associate companies as a problem, due to loading my commercial van insurance quotation by £90.

I also recently dealt with a non fault claim for my brother in law, that was supposed to be handled by his legal team, but unfortunately do not have their name. The service they offered was absolutely disgraceful, and I ended up doing all the leg work including photographs, whilst they sat in their office, either botching things or generally doing nothing, until I had completed the case for them. Another reason, I personally would not take legal cover.

I truly sympathise with Trudy101, and would hope that the offenders see sense making good the damage they caused, when they realise that a court conviction will not help their future Insurance premiums. These people are very fortunate that it was not my vehicle they damaged, as I would CERTAINLY NOT be affording them the opportunity to resolve the situation, due to their initial denial and subsequent behaviour.

Once again Best wishes to Trudy101

Along with the other forum contributors l have great sympathy for you. There but by the grace of god !!!!!!!

Mt first thought is surely your insurance company should have given the best possible advice.

You have paid your premium for insurance cover and legal advice.

The general theme is that insurance companies will always take the easiest route and most often

ignore their customers requirements. We're not asking for money, we're asking for SERVICE.

If they professionally deal with these matters on a regular basis, then surely it very simple,

courteous and professional to give you their customer all the advice you should need. Therefore

giving you good service, encouraging loyalty and ensuring we have confidence in their profession.

So far they seem to be the normal standard !!!!! makes you wonder what all their associations

require of them. Come on Cameron !!!!

P.S if your legal protection is through an insurance company chosen company, you have my sympathy.
Let's hope it isn't Minster Law, they don't even know what year it is never mind any other time scale.

I truly believe all forum members should name their brokers and their insurance companies and that way

other members will benefit from comments both good and bad. In your case, they have basically left

you to sort it out, so they should be shamed as ineffective and none caring.

It may be well worth advising the third party that you agree going through insurance would be the best route, due to their denial of the facts, and the presence of an independant witness to clarify their actions in this incident. I would certainly advise them that you would also be contacting the police, as they will be charged for failing to report an accident within 24 hours and possibly more. I was involved in the very same scenario as yourself, but on that occasion did go through my insurance, who did sort it out very quickly due to the independant witness, and the third party was charged by the police. I also have had occasion to go through the small claims against our local council, when my car was damaged because of their contractor's negligence. This can be very time consuming, if you are required to make more than one court appearance, that can occur for a variety of reasons, but on a positive note, the third party would be required to make their way to the court that you choose, and would incur costs such as travel, lost wages etc. Your independant witness would also be required to attend. I had to attend court on three occasions, due to the council using delaying tactics, but prior to the fourth, they settled out of court. I would have thought your third party would show some sense and decency ( not their traits to date), when taking into account police involvement, that will greatly affect their future insurances when convicted, but if they are completely stupid (for the sake of £270), I really hope you find the means to pursue through your insurance, and I would certainly advise reporting them. Best wishes.

trudy101:I will then have to report it to my insurance company as well then ?

Under the terms of your Insurance you are supposed to anyway.

Be aware that your premiums will be affected from renewal, even if you manage to claim the repair costs from the third party. Really annoying, but your Insurers will apply a loading to the premium. Insurance is about risk and Insurers believe that if you have one accident claim, the probability of having another within a period of time increases.

I will then have to report it to my insurance company as well then ?

Yes you can contact the third parties Insurers to advise them of the accident claim with their policyholder. They won't allow you to claim off the policy for the damage, unless they obtain confirmation from their policyholder that they were at fault.

The alternative is to take this forward legally. You have the legal cover, so they will help you.

Hi Thanks for your reply.

I didnt know I was allowed to contact their insurers direct is that something you can do then ?

Thanks

As the repair is below the excess level, it won't be a claim on your policy anyway. It will be a case of you paying for the repairs and using the legal protection cover to claim the cost back.

You could approach the third parties Insurers directly. I think you can find out who they are through the Police or paying to get hold of it, using the MID (Motor Insurance database). The Police may not be helpful, as they normally don't get involved unless someone was injured. But this lady did cause damage and drove away, for which you have an independent witness.

If you find out who the third parties Insurers are, then you could approach them to make the claim. They will probably then phone and write to their policyholder, which is when it could become difficult. If they dispute the accident, you might then end up having to go down the legal route. It is worth a try, as sometimes the third parties Insurers will deal with the repairs, as long as their policyholder is helpful. Perhaps they might change their minds, if you contact their Insurers, as they should have reported the accident to their Insurers. If they are embarrassed by not reporting the accident, they might have a change of heart.

Last week parked in a car parking space on return to my car a gentleman approached me asking if it was my car, I confirmed it was, he told me he had witnessed an accident, a lady had backed her car into mine, shunted my car forwards into a rail, she then reversed and took off without leaving any details or stopping.

I was very lucky this man was a visiting the same place as me and he quite happily gave me his details if there was any problems with insurance and he said be happy to help. I was able to get the women's details from the place I had visited I rang her and informed her a witness saw her back into my car and leave without stopping to which she replied "did I"

She came back to the car park and her car was clearly damaged on the back bumper with my cars paint was attached to it. My back bumper is dented and cracked, whilst she was there she looked at it and still denied hitting it even though her car was damaged too.

She announced my car didnt look that damaged it was just a scratch! I took a photo of her damage and gave her my telephone number she said she would speak to her husband and ring me. She left it 3 days, in the meantime I checked my insurance excess which is £400 and when I rang her I suggested I take it to a local garage if she consented and get a quote, she agreed. The quote I got was £270.00.

I called this lady back she said it was very high and that she would like another, again I went and got another quote and today rang her she now wants to go through her insurance, her husband came on the phone today and more or less called me a liar saying there was no damage to my car! (How he would know that is beyond me as he wasnt there) !

Sods law I have 10 years + on my no claims bonus, my insurance is due for renewal in 2 weeks time and I dont want to get stung for £400 excess and risk my renewal policy going up.My policy states I have to pay the excess, unfortunately I am due to have an operation, and 6 weeks recovery and really havent the £400 to pay out at this time.

I have to pay the excess whether its my fault or not, and will have to claim it back through my motor legal protection and I am going to be out of pocket for months, and none of this was my fault. I have been more than patient, got 2 quotes done all the running around and phone calls and today has just really been the icing on the cake so to speak with this couples attitude. This woman hits my car, then protests she didnt ! even though an independent witness saw it all, then says there's not much damage for £270.00 more or less calling me a liar !!!

Can anyone give me advice please whether I can pursue small claims on this matter to avoid paying out £400 policy excess.

Many Thanks